There was a minor political spat over the weekend, with Green co-leader Metiria Turei calling NZ First racist, and Winston getting upset about it. Meanwhile, Labour is stuck in the middle desperately trying to demand that their two pathways to power pretend to get along.
Fuck that. NZ First are a racist party and always have been. They've consistently run on a platform of whipping up hatred against others - initially Asians, then Muslims, and now its back to Asians again. Whining about this truth being spoken is like bigots whining about being called on their bigotry. And my response is the same: if you don't want to be called a racist, don't be a racist.
What this does expose is how tenuous Labour's pathway to power is. Depending on the votes of two parties who basicly hate each other to form a government and pass policy is not a recipe for coalition success - especially when the decision of one of those parties is in the hands of its members, not its MP's. It's Labour's fault they're in this position: they've done precisely squat to increase their vote since last election. But now we all have to deal with it. And with Winston threatening to lock the Greens out of government again, Labour is effectively presenting its voters with two alternate coalition choices. Which means that if you want Labour to work with the Greens, you need to vote for the latter to strengthen their hand.